Spoiled America

Some years ago a very close friend who was from Jamaica declared to my mother that “Americans are spoiled.” My mother was indignant. She stated to him “What do you mean, you're no different then we are.” She did not understand why he was comparing the two countries. Neither of us understood the seriousness of his statement. He explained that Americans complained too much. He went on to explain that compared to many of the poor areas of Jamaica the government subsidized apartments that he had seen here in the U.S. looked like mansions. He also made further statements that made me wonder was he in fact correct in his observations. Since that time I have had the opportunity to travel to several different countries throughout the world. I actually got to see and experience some the differences in other countries compared to the U.S. After pondering this introduction over the last couple of days would you be surprised if I said that I believe that Americans are not necessarily spoiled? I had to ask myself “ What defines being a spoiled American? Is it overindulgence, greed, too many choices? There are a plethora of reasons Americans are considered to be spoiled. For some the answer would be yes. On
As I traveled on several missions trips the poignant thoughts about spoiled Americans that my Jamaican friend shared with me many years ago were always in the back of my mind. I recall a missions trip to Santa Cruz and La Paz, Bolivia where street children worked to survive. They were as young as five years old. They lived in parks and slept under park benches. People sold pencils and cocoa leaves on the street corner. In contrast, here in the U.S, we have welfare and unemployment insurance. There would be nice homes on one block and in the same block there would be a home without any windows and a dirt floor. Here in the U.S. most neighborhoods are not mixed